In which Erin pets a full-grown cheetah
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
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Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Oudtshoorn,
South Africa
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Although pretty cheesy, the park did have quite a lot of interesting wildlife. You are taken on a tour of the recently discovered "lost temple" with some silly commentary. They have a tank of Lake Malawi cichlids (been there), a troop of ring-tailed lemurs, a pygmy hippo, a pair of playful otters, and a bunch of crocodiles. The best part was one a guy dropped his sunglasses in with the Maribu storks and one of them triumphantly claimed them and repeatedly tried to eat them. The big cats were also pretty impressive, including the large tiger cubs and larger white tigers
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. They had a bunch of lions and cheetahs as well. They do a lot of research and breeding of cheetahs here. The stars of the show were probably the meerkat colony hanging out in the front. I could probably have watched these critters for hours. I'm glad we got to see meerkats in spite of the meerkat man. Meerkats post a lookout in a raised place (like the top of a termite mound). The lookout will alert the others with a specific call (they have over 30 distinct sounds). A bird warning will cause the meerkats to dive into the nearest hole. A jackal warning will cause them to scramble up the nearest tree. If a snake passes by, the meerkats will group together to appear as a larger creature. Very cool stuff.
For a little under $20 per person you can sign up for a cheetah or tiger encounter. They let you go in the cages and pose with the animals. This was a birthday treat for Erin, and originally intended to be for the cheetah cubs. However, after talking with our guide and a few others, they all recommended the full-grown cheetahs for the experience. I watched Erin mentally battle with her love of baby animals and her awe of big cats, then finally decide for the latter. It turned out to be a good decision.
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We were accompanied into the enclosure by two keepers who gave us the rules of engagement. We were to move around behind the cheetah at all times and not approach it from the front. We could pet the cheetahs on the ears, neck, back, and side, but not on the stomach, face, or tail. I was trying to commit this to memory when we were ushered into the cage.
We came face to face with two enormous cats stalking over to greet us. Now we've had a lot of amazing wildlife encounters over the course of this trip, but watching those two enormous cats walking right up to us was a pretty amazing feeling. But instead of pouncing or baring their teeth, the giant cats were...purring. Purring loudly. One of the keepers scratched one of them behind the ears affectionately.
They sat one of the cheetahs down and positioned Erin behind him to take photos. She patted and he purred like a car engine. It was a big kitty. Erin's face was glowing.
After we had each had a turn, we both got behind the cats for a photo. It was hard to stay away from the thing's face when he kept turning it into my hand. I suppose they were harmless but I found myself wondering whether there had been any accidents with this program. A tour group walked along the catwalk above us and looked down jealously.
We only had maybe ten minutes with the cats but Erin was giddy for the rest of the day.
~Travis
